Looking for a WiFi ATC with Good Signal Strength

After my old Maverick wireless thermo finally bit the dust I decided to look into getting a setup that would not only monitor my temps, but control them as well. The Maverick sometimes had issues with connectivity in my house if I took the receiver upstairs for the night, so I was hoping that one of the available WiFi solutions might have a better signal range. So far I've been looking at the CyberQ and the Wifi Stoker, but before I drop $400 on an ATC I want to feel confident that I'll actually be able to take advantage of the WiFi functionality I'm paying a premium to get.

Does anyone have feedback on the ranges they are getting out of these systems? or have any other systems to suggest?

I just ordered the CyberQ Wifi, so I can't give you real world input on how its range compares to the Maverick, but it gives you two chances at getting a signal/functionality, so it may not be an issue. It sounds like Ad Hoc mode is comparable to using a Maverick, and the owner's manual says that it has an outdoor range of around 1,000 feet and an indoor range of around 50 to 150 feet. If that doesn't work for you, then Infrastructure mode might. With infrastructure mode, you just need to be able to connect to your home wifi network. Once connected to your home network, range is no longer an issue, and you can access and control it from anywhere that you can access the Internet.

Mark R (LR) said:

I just ordered the CyberQ Wifi, so I can't give you real world input on how its range compares to the Maverick, but it gives you two chances at getting a signal/functionality, so it may not be an issue. It sounds like Ad Hoc mode is comparable to using a Maverick, and the owner's manual says that it has an outdoor range of around 1,000 feet and an indoor range of around 50 to 100 feet. If that doesn't work for you, then Infrastructure mode might. With infrastructure mode, you just need to be able to connect to your home wifi network. Once connected to your home network, range is no longer an issue, and you can access and control it from anywhere that you can access the Internet.

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keep us posted please,Ive been looking long and hard at that Cyber Q,just a little worried about hooking it up,im not the slickest guy with computers,lol

Will do. I'm decent with computers but not so great with networking details. Luckily, my son is pretty good with that stuff and will be home from college for Easter weekend. I'm hoping the kit gets here by Friday so that I can get his help if things don't go smoothly. A friend is doing a crawfish boil over the weekend, and I volunteered to bring ribs, so I'm hoping to get to break it in over the weekend.

Mark R (LR) said:

Will do. I'm decent with computers but not so great with networking details. Luckily, my son is pretty good with that stuff and will be home from college for Easter weekend. I'm hoping the kit gets here by Friday so that I can get his help if things don't go smoothly. A friend is doing a crawfish boil over the weekend, and I volunteered to bring ribs, so I'm hoping to get to break it in over the weekend.

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Good luck. Looking forward to hearing your review

I recently purchased the CyberQ Wifi, and have used it for an overnight smoke of a brisket and two butts. It did a tremendous job regulating temperature. I set it to 240 degrees, and it held there all night. It comes with 3 meat probes and one pit probe, so I was able to monitor the internal temp of all 3 pieces of meat. I was able to set it up in infrastructure mode with port forwarding. I'm not well versed in the world of routers and networks. However, once you get your head around how it actually works, it's not so horrible. Your home network has it's own public IP address (e.g. 71.174.xxx.xxx). Essentially, you need to set up your router so that any time you type in that IP address into a browser, you connect to your home network and your router automatically forwards you to the CyberQ (port forwarding). I have a Verizon Fios router. I did quite a bit of research, and was ready to go home and try to get it set up. Then I came across the actual user guide (Note: you only get 1 page of the user guide in the box). But as it turns out, the guide walks step by step through the setup on my very same Verizon Fios router. Score! So if you are in the same boat, setup should be a breeze. See page 17 of the attached:

http://www.thebbqguru.com/PDF/CyberQ-WiFi-USER-GUIDE.pdf


Hope this helps.

Now that I've un-boxed the CyberQ and played with it, I can confirm that it has great signal strength. While setting it up, you have it scan for WiFi, and at one point the scan found 6 networks from neighbors' houses. I had some problems getting it connected to my network, but BBQ Guru provided EXCELLENT customer service. I sent an email after their business hours yesterday, and this morning Chuck with BBQ Guru called and spent around 20 minutes on the phone with me and fixed my issue.

Good to hear Mark, I just bit the bullet and ordered mine, with the 8' extended probes. Looking forward to getting this thing in and giving it a go. Thanks for the feedback everyone.